House Set For Fight Over Drilling

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers could vote today on whether to allow drilling for natural gas near U.S. shorelines.

Lawmakers from coastal states are joining with environmental activists to defeat a measure that would allow for natural-gas drilling within three miles of shore.

The House is scheduled to cast an election-year vote as early as today on whether to lift a 25-year-old moratorium against natural-gas drilling in virtually all U.S. coastal waters, including off the Virginia coast. A ban against offshore oil drilling would remain in place.

The provision to allow for drilling for natural gas -- part of an annual spending bill for the U.S. Interior Department -- won approval last week by a lopsided margin in the House Appropriations Committee. But it could face a tougher battle on the House floor, where many coastal lawmakers have vowed to fight it.

Florida lawmakers have announced plans to amend the bill to preserve a drilling ban.

"This is the most aggressive attack on Florida's beaches and shorelines that I've seen in my nine years in Congress," Rep. Jim Davis, D-Fla., said in a conference call with reporters. "We cannot drill our way out of the challenges facing this country."

The state of Virginia has expressed a clear interest in offshore drilling, partly because of the revenues that could come with any drilling venture. The General Assembly has voted twice to endorse the concept and has urged Congress to lift the federal ban. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has supported a study to measure the extent of offshore oil and gas reserves.

But even some supporters of offshore drilling have expressed reservations about the measure now before the House.

Virginia Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Norfolk, a vocal drilling supporter, said Wednesday that she plans to vote against the drilling measure as currently proposed.

Drake said she favors a measure that would give states the option to drill. But the current House measure, sponsored by Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., would lift the moratorium across the country without any state input.

Drake also faulted the measure for not letting states share in the drilling royalties, and for not requiring that drilling occur out of view of beach-goers. Drake has favored a 20-mile buffer, while the Peterson measure allows for drilling within 3 miles of shore.

"I thought it was the wrong way to go about doing it," Drake said. "I do not expect the Peterson bill to pass."

But Peterson and his allies appeared buoyed that support for offshore drilling is growing on Capitol Hill amid concern about soaring energy costs. Unlike oil, he said, natural gas is a clean fuel with little risk of pollution. And more natural gas must be found, he argued, to avoid the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs. The United States now has the highest price for natural gas in the world, leaving U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage.

"We've been laying the groundwork for a debate of this magnitude for quite some time," Peterson said. "The stakes couldn't be higher, and we fully expect their side to be as aggressive and well-organized as ever. But you can't help but be confident of the outcome when you're arguing from a position of strength and you're fortunate enough to have the facts on your side."

Opponents, mostly from Florida and California, said natural-gas drilling could easily lead to oil drilling. They won permission from the House Rules Committee on Wednesday to offer an amendment to preserve the drilling ban.

"I don't know how you do that drilling without getting into oil," said Rep. Norman Dicks, D-Wash. "This is going to be a very sensitive issue."

A separate measure allowing for drilling as a state option, with more stringent coastline protections, could go before the House Resources Committee next month, Drake said. *